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Back When We Were Grown-Ups
  
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Back When We Were Grown-Ups (Paperback)

by Anne Tyler (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Paperback (Export Ed) 3 used & new from £2.28
Audio CD (Audiobook) £52.84 £52.84 2 used & new from £9.99

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Product details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Chatto & Windus (1 Jun 2001)
  • ISBN-10: 0701172940
  • ISBN-13: 978-0701172947
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 415,104 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #27 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > T > Tyler, Anne

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4 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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3 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars a great book, funny and thought provoking, 30 Oct 2001
By A Customer
I really enjoyed this book so much that i'm about to buy it as a present for a friend. The plot is well thought out and exicuted and never goes quite the way either the characters or the reader expects.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Do we ever think we're grownup?, 3 Sep 2008
Although set in Baltimore, over 3600 miles away, this book could be about my neighbours, friends or family. Every character is so well drawn and the story so natural, despite never being predictable, that reading Back When... felt like a long, soul-cleansing conversation with a good friend. Where the dysfunctional things that happen in families are given a good airing and start to seem funny instead.

The story is told from the point of view of Rebecca, a middle-aged, under-appreciated woman who suddenly feels her life is slipping away from her and goes on a voyage of self-discovery as she looks back at her life and tries to find who she 'really' is. If the main protagonist was a man, this would labelled a mid-life crisis, while if she was younger it could be self-obsessed naval-gazing. But instead Rebecca is a big-hearted, ordinary person who isn't aware of her own strength and loveableness.

Anne Tyler's writing flows so smoothly, particularly the conversations between characters have such natural rhythm that you really can hear their voices and thoughts. In parts it is quite dry and I chuckled out loud a few times, but I wouldn't describe the book as a comedy. It is more of a philosophical observation of people, and it made me think about the differences between how we see ourselves and how we are seen by other people. That might just be the result of reading it on a long journey with rain battering the windows, which always puts me in a philosophical frame of mind. However, it was a perfect companion for the trip and left me feeling refreshed and satisfied.

Anne Tyler has been praised by other famous writers, and if you haven't read anything else by her this is as good a place as any to start.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Back when we were grown ups., 28 Aug 2006
By M. Paterson "Mary" (West Wales) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Back When We Were Grown-ups (Audio CD)
This is a superb reading of one of Anne Tyler's excellent novels. I already own the book, and read it a few years ago. I had forgotten the story, but remembered enjoying it, so I have just taken a copy out of our local library. Lorelei King has all the characters to perfection. I cannot praise it enough. I came online to buy a copy to send to my sister, but am devastated by the price - beyond my reach, I am afraid.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Totally absorbing
I'm still listening to this in the car on the way to work and back, my journeys are now total pleasure.

Lorelei King has Bec's voice to perfection. Read more

Published on 8 Jul 2004 by Ms. K. E. Glaisher

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